Help solve 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' at the Broadway Theatre of Pitman

When you enter the Broadway Theatre of Pitman to see “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” you’ll take a trip back in time — to Victorian England — Charles Dickens’ time to be exact.

Based on the unfinished novel of the same name by Dickens, this fun musical puts the audience in charge of the ending.

“Dickens died before he finished the book,” said Jack Hill, the show’s director. “Edwin Drood disappears before it’s finished ... so literary circles always try to guess what Dickens had in mind. It’s always been a mystery within a mystery.”

And so is this musical opening at the Broadway Theatre, Friday, Sept. 14. A show within a show, ultimately, it’s up to the audience to decide who killed Edwin Drood.

He would definitely know. This is Hill’s fourth time directing “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”

And it can be a very challenging show to do, he said.

“It’s extremely difficult because the audience is so involved. They can actually take control of the show. I’ve done performances where I’ve completely lost control,” Hill said.

But the actors are all up for the challenge.

Rick Bravo, chairman of the Philadelphia Pickwick Club, a club that follows “Dickens’ wild life,” plays the chairman — the narrator for the show — a part that was “right up his alley,” Hill said.

“We break the fourth wall right away,” said Bravo, of Washington Township. “My job — as the chairman — is to encourage the audience or reel them back in.”

Bravo, who is “more in tune to Dickens’ life,” than his works, had never read “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” before. But that didn’t stop him from tackling this interesting musical head on.

“I can develop a good rapport with the audience. I’ve done other shows where I talked directly to the audience. So this is a good fit,” Bravo said.

In the musical, a Victorian acting troupe attempts to stage Dickens’ unfinished novel. The story is about John Jasper, a choirmaster who is in love with his nephew Edwin Drood’s fiancée, Rosa Bud. On a stormy Christmas Eve night, the title character vanishes.

“It sounds confusing because it’s a very, very different show,” Hill said.

View full sizePhoto by Elizabeth RyanThe cast of 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' poses for a picture. The musical comes to the stage at the Broadway Theatre of Pitman, Friday, Sept. 14.

The original production of Rupert Holmes’ musical won three Tony Awards — Best Musical, Book and Score — in 1986. After its run on Broadway came to an end in May 1987, two national tours and a stay in London’s West End followed.